Public Health Practice Campus Certificate at Rockford

The Public Health Practice Campus Certificate at Rockford provides a public health knowledge base targeting local community, health, and public health professionals as well as health professions students enrolled at the College of Medicine campus in Rockford.  The certificate is a 16 hour program of study consisting of five graduate level courses comprising the fundamental concepts essential to public health practice.       

Courses will be offered in-person on the Rockford campus and on-line.  Certificate coursework may be transferable to a degree program within the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health or to other schools or programs of public health.

Through this campus certificate program learners will acquire basic knowledge, attitudes and skills that are important for public health practice.  These include:

• An understanding and appreciation of the basic principles of public health as a system and social enterprise

• Basic principles of epidemiology and of the social and behavioral determinants of health and illness in populations

• Familiarity with basic statistics and the role of statistics in carrying out the core functions of public health

• The role of health education and health promotion in improving population health

Who Should Apply?
The Public Health Practice Campus Certificate at Rockford is intended for:

• Members of the public health workforce who seek formal education and training in public health

• Health professions students who seek to strengthen their knowledge and skills in basic public health concepts  

• Those delivering health care who need knowledge and skills of the public health system but may not want the full MPH curriculum

• Public and private sector employees who wish to enhance their professional knowledge of core public health concepts

• Lifelong learners

Public Health Practice Campus Certificate at Rockford
Course Requirements І 16 total credit hours

Public Health Concepts and Practice
CHSC 400 | 3 credit hours
CHSC 400 provides an overview of the philosophy, purpose, history, organization, functions, tools, activities and results of public health practice. Students are introduced to basic concepts, principles and information through online discussions, exercises and case studies. There are no prerequisites other than admission to the Certificate Program.

Behavioral Sciences in Public Health
CHSC 401 | 3 hours
CHSC 401 provides grounding in the social and behavioral sciences to assist students in understanding complex public health issues including analysis of individual, community, institutional and societal factors influencing health and illness. There are no prerequisites other than admission to the Certificate Program.

Health Education Health Promotion
CHSC 480 | 3 hours
CHSC 480 covers theories of health education and health promotion interventions for public health professionals, including approaches for individual, group and community-level behavior change. CHSC 401 is recommended as a prerequisite to CHSC 480. 

Biostatistics I
BSST 400 | 4 hours
BSST 400 includes descriptive statistics, basic probability concepts, one- and two-sample statistical inference, analysis of variance and simple linear regression. It includes an introduction to statistical data analysis software. There are no prerequisites other than admission to the Certificate Program.

Principles of Epidemiology
EPID 400 | 3 hours
EPID 400 offers an introduction to descriptive and analytic epidemiology, determinants of health and disease in populations and application of epidemiologic methods to disease control; includes use of basic epidemiologic software. BSST 400 is recommended as a prerequisite to EPID 400.